If you’ve been following this blog, this lemur might look a bit familiar to you. That’s because it’s an evolutionary cousin of the red-fronted brown lemur we saw a few days ago in Isalo.
This common brown lemur was chilling out with other members of its troop in Anjajavy forest a little before sunset. The species lives in Madagascar’s northern half, while red-fronted brown lemurs live in the south. Common brown lemurs are also more widespread and, well, common.
I love the photo above because the lemur’s hands and feet are both showing. Look at those fingers! And look at the opposable big toes closing over the smaller toes to form a fist. A foot that can form a fist! You’ve gotta see that kind of thing to believe it.
The opposable thumb and big toe help common brown lemurs hold onto branches as they walk and leap in the treetops, their favored environment. You can’t see the tail in the above photo, but it’s long—longer than its body. The long tail helps with balance.
The group photo shows just how long the tails can get.
